Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Q & A

I got a few questions on my formspring site and thought I'd share with you:

When you started your blog did you know that it was going to be about interior design?I knew that I would blog about it the most out of anything because I love it, but at the time I had no idea it would be the catalyst to starting my own career!

Do you have any services for completing a room? I'm about 1/3 of the way into my bonus room, but I'm completely stuck! I've already got wall color, most of the furniture, and some wall decor. I just need some help with the rest!I sure do! Are you local? I have a service where I come to your home and we can do anything in an hour for $75. We can arrange furniture, pick out art, or just talk about next steps. If you aren't local, a design board sounds like a good alternative for you. Feel free to email me for more details! brynalexandra at gmail.

I love the black wall. What tools/method did you use for paint the edges. I am having hard time with my walls.Do you mean the moulding and ceiling edges? I just use the green brand painters tape, and it's super easy!

What all steps did you have to take to make the leap into self employment? How long did it take?It's different for every state, but there are three forms to fill out with the state before you can even get your LLC. I'm just starting, so email me in a month or so and I can answer more efficiently :)

What is going to be the hardest part about moving cross country? Adapting to the weather? Adapting to your own business? Something else?The weather's not hard to adapt to because I grew up in Texas which has a similar climate. But the hardest thing for me will be figuring out how to acquire clients in a city I don't know anyone in!

I'm sad you left SoCal, but even sadder you haven't shared any of your design spaces yet. When are you going to share?haha I know, I'm as eager to share them as everyone is to see them. I'm awaiting the pictures from my photographer, I haven't even seen them yet!

What have you found is your biggest challenge in starting your own design business?I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around charging enough for my services. Since I love it so much, it's easy for me to work for free or less than minimum wage by not charging for all the time I put into jobs, but now that it's my "job" I need to stop doing that.

What are the design trends that you consider completely over or overdone?Kelly Wearstler Trellis pattern, red painted accent walls, wall words and sayings, Chiang Mai Dragon.

Outside of making your own house a home, what has piqued your interest in styling and designing?I actually always loved it and wanted to be an interior designer as a child. In 6th grade I had a school assignment to create a magazine cover of how we see ourselves in the future, and mine was me as a "famous" interior designer. I got discouraged because of the idea of competition in college so I never went for it, but I eventually found my way back to my dreams!

What's your favorite thing that you own?You can see it in this picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brynalexandra/3531972977/

See the painting of the dancer with the blue background? My great-grandmother was an artist and painted this painting. It hung in the entry way of my childhood home for as long as I can remember. On my wedding day my parents gave it to me. It's by far my most prized possession.

Have you had any difficult clients yet? Or ones that were just totally out of your comfort zone as far as the look they wanted?Not at all... I have been blessed so far :)

When you getting a real bed? ; )It cannot come soon enough!! We're hoping to have all our furniture in about two weeks.

This question is funny, I had to text my husband asking if this question came from him (it didn't) because he knows how much I am having trouble sleeping with the air mattress.

Can you describe your new daily routine?Wow, this is a tough question because I really don't have one quite yet! I got here on a Friday night, so this past weekend I've enjoyed spending time with my husband and shopping for things that didn't make it in the move (laundry baskets, shampoo, etc). Today was my first "work at home" day and truthfully I spent the majority of it painting and I'm still not done! Tomorrow I will also be painting, but in between I've been getting back to emails.

I hope to settle into a routine that involves getting up and getting dressed/ready with my husband (or else I will be in PJ's all day!), working on my blog, answering emails and then eventually client meetings and shopping/designing for clients!

Would you be open to answering design related questions for an affordable price? I have a pretty clear vision when it comes to decorating my home, but I often find myself needing an opinion from someone who has a better eye than me.Yes of course! I will answer any design related questions in depth for $25. Feel free to email me at brynalexandra@gmail.com.

7 comments:

glad the move is going well and q&a are always fun. i agree with red accent walls (blah, hate accent walls period!) and word walls being out but i think Kelly Wearstler's trellis and Chiang Mai Dragon are classics. Kind of like toile. they can be overused but that's what also makes something classic ... goes with many design schemes and is a steady you can always count on never going out of style! looking forward to seeing what you do with your black bedroom!

I'm completely with you on how difficult it is to charge enough for your services. In theory, you know how much your expertise is worth, but in practice, you just want to get involved in a project and help the individual in front of you without worrying about the money. I'm in a different field than you professionally, but that difficulty crosses genres.

I forgot to add, I'm going to show this post to my boyfriend. He just bought a new building, and is redoing one of the apartments for himself. I've been giving him some design advice (he has an excellent eye himself too), but one or both of us may be contacting you to get some more in depth answers to our questions. It's so great to see someone whose style you love (I really enjoy your style, as I can tell from regularly viewing your blog), who is able to take on clients for the brief purposes of answering questions and giving design advice!